It's time for a new mission to Mars! Join Exploratorium science educators as we celebrate the launch of the newest rover, Curiosity, as it begins it's 8 1/2 month journey to the planet Mars. We will look at the launch itself, talk a little bit about MSL(Mars Science Laboratory) and Curiosity, summarize the history of Mars exploration, and look forward to what is next!

Dr. Laura Peticolas is a physicist at UC Berkeley's Space Physics Research group. She studies the Aurora to learn more about the Earth and the workings of our Solar System. She's currently working with NASA's Mars data to understand why the Martian aurora looks the way it does. In this podcast she discusses her research, her inspiration and how and why scientists sonify data.

The Mars Phoenix Lander will have been collecting data and sending it back to earth for a month! Exploratorium Senior Scientist Paul Doherty will examine the data and tell us what new information we've gained about Mars. We'll also get an update on our old friends, the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity!

Learn more about the new mission to Mars! The Mars Phoenix Lander touched down on the Red Planet on Sunday, May 25, 2008, and began collecting data. Phoenix is designed to study the history of water and search for complex organic molecules in the Martian arctic's ice-rich soil. Join Exploratorium Senior Scientist Paul Doherty as he walks us through the mission and shows us the first pictures that the Phoenix Lander sends back!

The two Mars Rovers are alive and well after surviving their second Martian winter. Come and see photos of discoveries they made during their third year on Mars, with Exploratorium Senior Scientist Paul Doherty.

On December 11, 2005, Opportunity, one of the twin rovers exploring Mars, celebrated its first Martian birthday. Opportunity had been on the red planet 687 Earth days, which is one Martian year. (A year is the time it takes a planet to make a complete loop around the sun). Join us for a look back over the those 687 days of discovery: what we learned, what we saw, and what questions remained unanswered.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have long outlived their life expectancy of three months. Join us as we sum up the rover data and explain how this information changes our view of Mars.

Webcasts made possible through the generosity of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Jim Clark Endowment for Internet Education, the McBean Family Foundation.

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